When Democrats’ proposals begin to fail, blame is mostly thrown at Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. But they’re often running cover for senators up for reelection in 2022 and are therefore not alone in their positions. The duo’s concerns are a warning sign that other Democrats do not want to get on board with the party’s radicalism but can’t say so publicly — yet.
Politico reported Tuesday, “It’s unclear exactly how many Democrats are siding with prominent House and Senate moderates. One centrist Democrat up for reelection next year, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), declined to say whether she’s comfortable with the $3.5 trillion spending number on Monday, or whether she agrees with pausing the legislation.”
The 2022 midterms are still over a year away, but Hassan currently is losing a hypothetical matchup with popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.
Perhaps she’ll eventually acquiesce out of loyalty to her party, but that you never hear her— or Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) — answer questions suggests her (and their) lack of comfort too.
The same piece explained that “Democrats close to the centrists say progressives are vastly overplaying their hand. A group of five to 10 House moderates have signaled to leadership that they would be willing to let the infrastructure bill fail rather than be held hostage by liberals over the broader spending bill. It’s a more attractive alternative to them than having to vote for painful tax increases to pay for an unrestrained social safety net expansion.”
This should have been clear from the onset, since Democrats’ plans are laughable to anyone not named Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.
Democrats still have huge aspirations, as if it’s 1932 or 1965, but unlike Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, who had large majorities on Capitol Hill, today’s Democrats have no mandate for their progressive agenda. Americans rejected most Democrats in the House last fall — diminishing their majority to the smallest in nearly a century — and did not grant Democrats a Senate tie until conspiracy peddlers cost the GOP two close elections in Georgia. Joe Biden won the presidency by only 44,000 votes, mainly because he wasn’t Donald Trump, not because of his policies.
There’s no way Democrats could break a Republican filibuster with 60 votes to pass socialist legislation like the $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” boondoggle, especially with inflation hindering the U.S. economy. Sane Democrats should trim down the package, while the fringe “Squad” types, who are ignorant and never happy, threaten to destroy the bipartisan infrastructure bill the Senate passed last month.
Related: Dem Budget War: AOC’s Got a Meme Dress, Sinema’s Got Spreadsheets
“President Biden’s governing agenda is at risk of unraveling on Capitol Hill after a mounting series of delays, clashes and setbacks that have sapped momentum from an ambitious and intricate push to deliver on long-standing Democratic policy priorities,” the Washington Post confessed Monday.
And as usual, it’s self-inflicted. Biden’s polling suffers because he will not stand up to the radicals.
Considering ongoing catastrophes along the southern border and in Afghanistan, the COVID-19 booster shot drama, and America’s urban street carnage, how has appeasing a vocal hard left gone, Joe? Should we still be thrilled “the adults back in charge”?
